The present invention relates to size-adaptable safety headgear, and more specifically to a novel, size-adaptable, safety-cushioning insert for employment inside the shell of a helmet. This insert is also referred to herein as a size-self-adjustable insert. For purposes of illustration herein, a preferred embodiment of the invention is disclosed in the setting of a military fire-fighting helmet, such as a Navy Firedome FXA-1 helmet made by the Bullard Company of Cynthiana, Ky., with respect to which the invention has been found to offer particular utility.
In recent years, there has been much activity in the development of various kinds of safety gear, and high on the list for attention in that activity has been a focus on new, more versatile, and more protective headgear. The present invention addresses this headgear focus by proposing a novel, simple, size-adaptive and extremely cushioning-effective insert which is to be installed and used inside the shell of a helmet, such as inside the shell (and within the usual conventional internal suspension structure) of a military fire-fighting helmet, wherein the matter of size-adaptability often has certain special importance.
A military fire-fighter may be called upon, at different times, wearing a protective helmet, to engage in fire fighting either (a) with, or (b) without a special support breathing mask, such as an oxygen mask. Such a fire-fighter must be prepared, at a moment's notice, to don one or both of these pieces of equipment, and does not typically have the “luxuries” either of owning two differently-sized helmets suited to this instant need to mount the correct protective gear where the “effective head size” to be accommodated is larger in one situation than the other, or of having sufficient time to make necessary internal helmet-suspension adjustments as required.
The present invention solves this dilemma. It does so by offering a “stretchable”, size-adjustable (stretch-adjustable), cushioning, safety-support structure (a helmet insert), which needs only once to be installed properly in a helmet of the type discussed above, after which time it will always place the recipient helmet in an adaptive condition—a self-adaptive condition—to deal, for example, with the kind of mask/no-mask situation described above, as well as with related situations.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the novel insert thereof takes the form of a domed cap formed of an appropriate, thin, reversibly stretchable fabric, to the inside of which are fastened plural, spaced, position-specific shock-cushioning, compression-responsive pads which are adapted to contact a wearer's head at selected contact locations, or defined regions. The pads are preferably formed of high-capability shock-absorbing assemblies of materials, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,099 B2, issued Oct. 22, 2002, for “Body-Contact Cushioning Interface Structure”. The entirety of that issued patent is hereby incorporated by reference into this disclosure to describe a cushioning structure which is ideally suited for employment in this invention. Despite this specific, illustrative incorporation herein, one will recognize that the particular construction of a cushioning pad for use in the present invention is not critical, and does not form any part of the invention.
An insert made in accordance with the present invention is preferably installed in such a helmet shell in any suitable manner that enables it to expand as required within that shell to receive “different-size” heads. A user, such as a fire-fighter, not wearing an oxygen mask, will fit the relevant helmet in place causing preferably just a slight amount stretching and expanding of the fabric cap. The cushioning pads in the cap will bear appropriately against the head at the predetermined contact locations, and the helmet will function well and comfortably. For illustration purposes, a preferred embodiment of the invention is described and illustrated herein installed through conventional hook-and-pile (Velcro®) fastening structure (in the form of confronting, interengaged patches) to the inside of the usual suspension structure provided in a helmet shell of the type generally discussed herein. Slight reversible compressibility of these patches accommodates expansion and contraction of the invention insert as required.
If the use occasion is one requiring that the fire-fighter also wear an oxygen mask, the effective “head enlargement” resulting from this will automatically be accommodated inside the helmet by the occurrence of an appropriate amount of reversible “additional” stretching in the cap. This stretching will not affect the load-cushioning abilities of the pads, since the tension build-up in the cap due to stretching, in accordance with the invention, will effectively be substantially independent of compression in the pads, and thus will not in any noticeable way compromise pad cushioning by “thinning” of the pads due to lateral stretching. Inasmuch as the independent and spaced pads “float” somewhat like islands inside the cap, as the cap expands and contracts (stretches and relaxes), neighboring pads will slightly retreat from and advance toward one another, respectively, and will tend to stay properly positioned relative to the “underlying” head anatomy of a wearer—mask or no-mask.
These and other features and advantage which are offered by the invention will become more fully apparent as the description which now follows is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
In all of these drawing figures, components illustrated are neither necessarily drawn to scale, nor shown in exact proportions relative to one another.